The Daytona Beach Police Department (DBPD) is actively investigating after a 31-year-old man fled from an attempted traffic stop and crashed into a vehicle at high speed, killing the driver of that vehicle.
The victim – 50-year-old Daniel J. Ruddell Jr. – died at the scene of that accident, which took place around 9 o’clock this morning (August 30, 2020) at the intersection of Dr. Martin Luther King (MLK) Jr. Boulevard & South Street.
It all started when officers attempted to pull over a black 2018 Chevrolet Malibu driven by Nyshon J. Bennett for running through a stop sign at the intersection of South Caroline Street & Cedar Street.
Bennett – the only person on board the Malibu at the time – fled from the scene southbound at a high rate of speed after officers turned on their lights and sirens to make the traffic stop on Caroline. The Malibu turned east from Caroline onto South Street and attempted to cross the intersection of MLK & South through a solid red traffic light when it T-boned the driver’s side of a silver 2008 Acura RL heading north on MLK. The Acura had the green light at the time.
The officers who attempted the traffic stop terminated it after the Malibu sped off, shutting off their lights and sirens.
The force of the impact sent the Acura spinning into a palm tree before crashing into a telephone pole, where it came to a final stop. Ruddell was the driver of the Acura and the only person on board at the time.
After striking the Acura, the Chevy struck three other vehicles parked nearby – a white 2010 Chrysler Sebring, a white 1997 GMC pickup truck and a black 2004 Chevrolet Malibu – before it came to a complete stop. No one was inside those vehicles at the time of impact.
Bennett was found stuck inside the Chevy by first responders and transported as a trauma alert to Halifax Health Medical Center with life-threatening injuries. He is currently in critical condition.
The black 2018 Chevrolet Malibu and the Acura were towed from the scene and will be processed for evidence by DBPD’s Traffic Homicide Unit. The Volusia County Medical Examiner also responded to take possession of Ruddell.
Exact charges against Bennett will be determined once the investigation is complete.